the media is as rich as any other part of the economy. and i think the correspondent's dinner is a classic example of this. >> have you attended one? >> i have, although not since 1996 because ""the new york times" stopped letting us go. >> why? >> they thought it was too -- dean baquet, who's now the managing editor of "the times", he was the washington bureau chief of "the times." i think it was in 2007, actually, declared that this is too cozy. he didn't like the message it sent. he would prefer that we stop going. i thought it was a great decision. >> describe the dinner to me. >> it's just this room full of tuxedoed people. a lot of hollywood celebrities come in. a lot of people talk about, you know, the good that the press does. but again, it's an extravaganza that continues, that it becomes the ultimate bubble world, the ultimate example of decadence in washington that people know intuitively is wrong, but have no either will or ability to stop it. >> this is a big night in washington. anyone whose anybody is here. and the key ques